Market Presence, By Marketing Consultant Chuck Kocal
The Phoenix Symphony just completed its 2005-06 season, and I thought I’d take a moment to present some relevant (and heartening) sales statistics. More than 122,000 tickets were sold to 115 performances. This is the highest total paid attendance in the history of the institution, and represents a 3% increase from the previous season. It also marks the third consecutive season of paid attendance growth.
Beneath the surface of this 122,000 total paid attendance figure, there are some important details. The 2005-06 season included the two highest grossing Classical Series concerts (the March program featuring Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto and May’s season finale featuring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony) and the three highest grossing Pops Series concerts (Marvin Hamlisch in January, Three Phantoms in February, and Doc Severinsen in April) of all time. Music Director Michael Christie’s “Baroque Christmas” program debuted to a full house. The new subscription series at the Mesa Performing Arts Center played to nearly 70% capacity, while the Signature Series in Scottsdale continued its history of high capacity utilization (99%).
Very smartly, The Phoenix Symphony has increased the percentage of the local market it serves by presenting a broad array of products in a variety of venues located throughout the Valley. Last season, the Symphony performed in 15 different venues, including Symphony Hall downtown, the new Mesa Performing Arts Center, and ASU-West. Repertoire included masterworks by the great composers of every era, salsa music, holiday music (including Handel’s beloved oratorio “Messiah”), Sousa marches, and music from Warner Bros. cartoons. The Symphony also presented the Dennis Rowland Big Band and United States Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club, and scheduled concerts at times and dates that appeal to young families, adults out for an evening of entertainment, and retirees.
It is by design that, like the market around it, The Phoenix Symphony is diverse and growing rapidly.
Chuck Kocal
Marketing Consultant for The Phoenix Symphony
Beneath the surface of this 122,000 total paid attendance figure, there are some important details. The 2005-06 season included the two highest grossing Classical Series concerts (the March program featuring Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto and May’s season finale featuring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony) and the three highest grossing Pops Series concerts (Marvin Hamlisch in January, Three Phantoms in February, and Doc Severinsen in April) of all time. Music Director Michael Christie’s “Baroque Christmas” program debuted to a full house. The new subscription series at the Mesa Performing Arts Center played to nearly 70% capacity, while the Signature Series in Scottsdale continued its history of high capacity utilization (99%).
Very smartly, The Phoenix Symphony has increased the percentage of the local market it serves by presenting a broad array of products in a variety of venues located throughout the Valley. Last season, the Symphony performed in 15 different venues, including Symphony Hall downtown, the new Mesa Performing Arts Center, and ASU-West. Repertoire included masterworks by the great composers of every era, salsa music, holiday music (including Handel’s beloved oratorio “Messiah”), Sousa marches, and music from Warner Bros. cartoons. The Symphony also presented the Dennis Rowland Big Band and United States Naval Academy Men’s Glee Club, and scheduled concerts at times and dates that appeal to young families, adults out for an evening of entertainment, and retirees.
It is by design that, like the market around it, The Phoenix Symphony is diverse and growing rapidly.
Chuck Kocal
Marketing Consultant for The Phoenix Symphony
7 Comments:
Thank you for sharing the positive data about how the orchestra has increased the number of tickets sold. However, additional information would also be useful. (I’ve asked similar questions in an earlier post, but no one replied then.)
First, how is the orchestra doing in what the retail industry reports as “same store sales”? Is the orchestra selling more tickets for the same number of Classics, Pops, etc., concerts that were given in prior seasons? Or is it selling more tickets because it’s giving more concerts than it used to? Or possibly both? Although Home Depot has recently stopped reporting same store sales data, these represent one of the best ways to evaluate whether an organization is doing the right things (or not) in retaining and growing its customer base.
Second, do increased ticket sales improve the orchestra’s financial performance? It’s no secret that ticket sales typically cover around half of the cost of running a performing-arts organization, although I don’t know the exact number for the PSO. However, it seems logical that increased ticket sales should either pay for themselves and/or encourage new and/or increased donations. If not, you may get the condition well known to the business world, in which you make a small loss on each sale and then try to make it up in volume. (I worked for some years for a high-tech firm with that philosophy. : - )
Grayce
Wow! Your marketing rocks!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
If the Phoenix Symphony is so "diverse", why not include more Hispanic Culture in the rep. All the programs mentioned in the original post are centered around generic white culture. As a Latino concert goer, I would certainly enjoy more of the cultural richness my heritage has to offer. Before you pat your selves on your backs, lets not forget the fastest growing population in the Greater Phoenix area!
Maria Verez
A note on hispanic music representation: last year's season schedule included a number of hispanic composers including Manuel DeFalla, Revueltas and Rodrigo. Also performed were Cuban and Latino-inspired pieces like Gershwin's Cuban Overture and Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
There was also an entire Pops program dedicated to Salsa music and how it can be an influence on traditional classics like The Four Seasons.
Next season, check out The Phoenix Symphony's series in Mesa or Scottsdale for an entire classics concert dedicated to the works of Spanish and Latin music and composers including Ravel's "Rapsodie espagnole", Falla's "El Amor Brujo", and Revueltas "Las Noches de los Mayas".
How's the deficit going? It was around $4,000,000 ... How's the deficit going? It was around $4,000,000 a few years back - is that just about all paid up?
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Editors Note: The answer is yes: The Phoenix Symphony achieved its goals and finished in the black for both the 03-04 and 04-05 seasons.
Why isn't more advertising directed to groups who don't want to drive by themselves to Symphony Hall but would like to take a bus if they only knew about it? Two music lovers I talked to this week never heard of bus service to Symphony Hall. People like this could fill all those empty seats if you advertised the buses every week.
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